


Proof of boyfriend

by bennysparks



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-27 22:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20768357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennysparks/pseuds/bennysparks
Summary: Johnny Carter's back in Walford.





	1. Chapter 1

Callum steps into the flat after work and shuts the door, leaning back against it and counting backwards from ten. Long fucking day. "Awright," he calls out, because he doesn't actually know if Ben is here or not, because he dropped his phone—again—into the loo this morning.

"Up here," Ben says.

"Please tell me you're in the mood for a pizza," Callum says, slouching up the stairs. He loosens his tie when he goes, partly because he feels like he's suffocating and partly because sometimes Ben makes this noise at the back of his throat when Callum is wearing a loose tie. "I don't think I can manage cooking tonight, and unless you want to go to the Minute Mart—"

"Pizza sounds good," Ben says. He isn't alone, Callum realizes when he rounds the corner. Ben is facing him at the dinner table with a can of beer. Across from Ben—back to Callum—is a thin, pretty boy with dirty blond hair, holding an alco-pop.

"Oh," Callum says. He can't stop the little burst of jealousy that reminds him of back when he was with Whitney and Ben was constantly bringing up his Grindr conquests.

The thin, pretty boy turns around Callum's eyes widen. He hasn't seen him in person in years, but he recognizes the face from a hundred thousand photographs stashed around the Carters' flat. "Halfway," Johnny Carter says, smiling brightly. "It's been  _ years, _ mate!"

"Uh, hi."

"Don't mind him."

"I wasn't expecting anybody else would be here."

"Well, someone dropped his phone and Jay was refusing to pass on any more messages." Ben takes a sip of beer.

"He said you were getting lewd."

"It's like neither of you have ever met me before."

"Sorry," Callum says, louder than expected and directed at Johnny. "You're down from Manchester, right?"

"Got it in one," Johnny says, mouth naturally settling into a bright grin that reminds Callum of Mick alright. "Mum's been after me for months and I had a bunch of vacation time banked at work."

"That's...that's nice."

Johnny takes a drink. "And then I ran into my young protege here—"

"Leave it out."

"Still so very easy to wind up, Mitchell."

And there's something about the way Johnny says it that annoys Callum. Ben  _ isn't _ easy to wind up, it took him months to master, like a special magic power— 

"Ben was  _ very _ excited to introduce us."

Callum can't stop himself from glaring at Ben for some reason he can't quite articulate. "We know each other. I was friends with Lee when we was—last time I saw him he was this  _ annoying _ little kid…"

Ben raises an eyebrow. "Okay, but you're my boyfriend now."

"Oh. Sorry. Sorry, it's been a long day. I wasn't—sorry."

"No problem, mate."

"Callum," Ben says. "There's cans in the fridge."

"Okay. I'm—gonna get changed." He doesn't bother to wait for a response. He heads into the bedroom, pulling off the tie. He can't help but feel a little annoyed that Ben didn't make the noise or even  _ notice _ because Johnny Carter's— 

"Hey."

Callum is standing next to the bed now and Ben is in the doorway. Ben steps in and pushes the door shut behind him. "I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to ambush you but we ran into each other in the market and it's been ages. And  _ maybe _ I wanted to show you off—"

Callum is halfway through pulling off his blazer but simply crumples. "I'm sorry, I'm  _ sorry, _ I was being a tosser out there and Mick's gonna be pissed but, like, I spent an hour listening to Mrs. Emery lose her shit in the office and Jay is in such a bad mood and my phone and then he was—and I thought—"

"Christ, you're cute," Ben says. He lets Callum collapse against him. "I can tell him I can hang out tomorrow instead. It's just—he was kind of my first gay friend—actually, like the first person who knew, you know?"

Callum groans against Ben's ear. "No," he says. "I was being a shit." He straightens up and pulls off the suit coat and unbuttons his trousers. When he looks up, he realizes Ben is staring. "Stop it!"

"It does not work that way," Ben says. "You look really hot right now."

"I'm going to change and then I will come out—shut up, you know what I mean—and have a beer while  _ you _ order some pizzas. Enough for three, okay?"

Ben kisses him and steps away. "I'll let him know. Take a minute if you need it, awright? I should have made sure you got a heads up."

And then Callum is alone and standing there in his pants. What a fucking prat. He can hear Ben saying something to Johnny and Johnny responding but he isn't really listening. He takes off his button-up but not his undershirt; he fishes a pair of grey jogging pants off the floor and pulls his socks off. If Ben can spring Johnny on him last second, Johnny can deal with him in pajamas. He pulls open the door and creaks out into the kitchen. Ben is pulling a couple of fresh cans out the fridge, plus another alco-pop for Johnny. Johnny is typing away at his phone. "Hey," he says, voice hoarse, and he clears his throat. "Uh, sorry about before."

Ben looks up. "Jesus," he says. "See, what did I tell you?"

Callum must look confused, because then Johnny says, "I'm supposed to acknowledge that he has achieved a very fit, very tall boyfriend." He snorts. "Yes, Ben, your boyfriend is very fit and very tall and you have done very well for yourself."

Callum blushes. Ben still does shit like this and it still makes him blush and blushing in front of Johnny Carter is— 

"Bloody right I have." Ben reaches out and grips his hand, pulling until Callum shuffles closer. 

Johnny finishes his drink, setting the can down tinnily. "I've ordered a pepperoni and a veggie," he says, holding up his phone. He grins at Callum. "I hear that you have done the  _ unimaginable _ and won over Phil Mitchell of all people."

"I mean, I wouldn't say won over," Callum says. "He puts up with me, I guess?"

"He don't know what to do with earnest people like you, babe," Ben says. He won't stop touching Callum, even more than usual; normally he wouldn't be like this unless he was establishing his territory, but Ben isn't giving that vibe off  _ at all.  _ He seems much more relaxed than usual. "But he calls Callum by name and even makes small talk with him."

"Sounds fake," Johnny says. "But okay."

Callum eases himself into the middle seat. He opens his can and drinks. "I think I used to sleep in your old room above the Vic."

"Really!" Johnny smiles brightly. "I  _ also _ used to date Whitney Dean."

Ben inhales and Callum barks out a "What?"

"Sorry," Johnny says. "I was just thinking about it and it's the kind of thing  _ he'd _ drop in the middle of a conversation if he gets bored so I wanted to just be up front."

"I mean you do have similar tastes  _ overall _ …"

Callum's jaw tightens.

"Ben," Johnny says. He shrugs at Callum. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that but I just—Ben was excited about us meeting and I heard—uh, Mum may have mentioned—and Tina—"

"I know you dated people," Callum says. "I mean, besides—I don't care if you two—" He didn't know how to have this conversation. He's spoken about it with Tina, late one night at the Prince Albert. Like everybody ends up dating everybody's ex, or their hook-up or whatever. "I don't know if it's better or worse that I like you." He frowns. "I ain't got a lot of experience with this—this—stuff."

Johnny shrugs. "It wasn't a big—someone was maybe showing off because the fit, tall boyfriend lives with him and his fears of being alone forever are unfounded? Hmm?"

"Shut it, Johnny." Ben takes a long gulp of beer. "They've been hanging out," he says to Johnny. "Cal and Whit. He's driving her around the bend trying to get her to start dating."

"I mean, that's very sweet," Johnny says.

"I'm  _ not  _ 'driving her around the bend,' Ben Mitchell. We're—I didn't want—"

"Okay," Ben cuts him off, although he's doing that face he does while he says it, the face that is overly fond and sappy. "See, what Callum may not totally realize or at least  _ accept _ anyway is that  _ sometimes _ I end up talking to Whitney in the Minute Mart and she's practically begging me to 'take his mind off it.'"

"What," Callum says, face hot.

"I know, babe. A year goes by and I'm talking about my relationship with  _ your _ ex?"

Johnny snorts. "I have never actually pictured you being domestic, Benjamin. I mean, other than with Jay. I kind of imagined you'd end up in bunk beds at some point."

"I can't keep up with them," Callum says. "When they're drunk it's like trying to pen in toddlers."

"I mean you're basically getting two boyfriends for the price of one and honestly Jay's a catch."

"Uh," Ben says. "Excuse me…"

"You used to be so mad," Johnny says. His voice is a little softer. "It's nice seeing you just—" He gestures.

"Feelings are gross, mate."

Johnny sings, "This is why we didn't date."

"And on that note." Ben hoists himself to his feet. "I'm taking a wazz. You two can—sit here—quietly—and not talk about me."

They watch him go. Johnny says, "Does he think that's going to work?"

"I honestly have no idea what that was."

Johnny sits up a little taller. "Sorry about before," he says. "I get that it was weird. The whole thing, really. It was only one time with Ben. He really wasn't ready to be with anyone."

Callum raises his eyebrows and shrugs. "None of my business," he says. "Sometimes I kind of worry he's gonna get bored of me or whatever but I haven't really seen him with like. You know. A gay friend."

"He isn't always great at letting people in."

"Oi" Ben says as he reappears. "I thought I said no talking."


	2. Chapter 2

Callum is awake at four in the morning, staring at the white stucco ceiling of the bedroom. Neon light streams in from the street. Ben is curled up against his right side; he  _ was  _ mumbling in his sleep before, nonsense, but at some point he went quiet and Callum thinks maybe he's awake too. "Ben?"

Lips ghost against his neck. "Cal?"

"Sorry," Callum says, on reflex. "Can't seem to fall asleep."

"Mmf," Ben kisses the patch of skin behind Callum's ear and reaches up to run fingers over his chest. "Y'okay?"

"Sure," Callum says. "It was nice to see Johnny again. Well. Weird."

"Mmm." Ben squeezes his arm. "Says he likes you.  _ You done good, Mitchell, _ his exact words."

Callum runs his tongue over his teeth. "That's good," he says. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Always," Ben says, and Callum almost wants to laugh because apparently Ben is too sleepy right now to take advantage of obvious joke set-ups.

"What—uh, what was it like with Johnny?"

There is a pause, and in the darkness, he can make out Ben's head rising off the pillow. "Why?" Ben's fingers still on his torso. "You wanna have a go at him or something?"

"Ben!"

Ben's head tilts back. "I would much rather you have a crush on Johnny Carter than be worrying about what I think you're worrying about."

"What do you think I'm worrying about?"

Ben exhales. He doesn't answer the question directly, says, "It was different. I'm not going to compare the two, okay? We was just a one-off, him and me. It was—Johnny is important to me. He has been there for me at some of my darkest moments, okay?" Ben lowers his head down to the pillow again and presses in closer to Callum, octopus-like. "But that ain't a threat to you and me, okay? Totally different things."

"Okay," Callum says. "Sorry for being kind of an arsehole tonight."

"We already went through all of that, I should have warned you." Ben kisses his neck. "Though, it's a nice change of pace, you being the jealous one."

"Uh, excuse me? You were the one who used to deliver a report on your Grindr hookups to the entire caff every morning."

"Yes, well, you was the one swanning around with—" Ben stops, swallowing the rest of the sentence before it can make its way out of his mouth. Callum knows what he was going to say though. They both know what he was going to say. Ben releases a long, shaky breath against Callum's ear. "That weren't fair of me," Ben says. Sometimes it shocks Callum, how different things are with the two of them now; back in the old days, Ben would have kept going, would have kept needling him like poking at a wound. "I'm not actually jealous of her."

"You don't need to be."

"I know." Ben is now smiling against Callum's neck. "Did you  _ really _ try to set her up with some bloke in the market by telling him you would have married her if you weren't gay?"

"I was—I was—"

"Meddling?"

"I just want her to be happy too," Callum says.

"Honestly, if you think that's how people flirt with each other, I have some serious questions about how  _ we _ got together."

"Well, there was the time that I got drunk and threw rocks at your house until Phil came out and yelled at me."

"I take great comfort in my love life being utterly baffling to that man."

"I mean, I think telling my brother to stop beating you up was  _ pretty _ romantic."

"Okay, how about we  _ stop _ bringing up my father and your brother when we're in bed?"

Callum clears his throat. "I  _ am _ sorry for getting jealous," he says. He doesn't totally know if he means it, but he wants to mean it. "I'm glad Johnny was there for you. It  _ was _ nice to see him. I wasn't feeling great, and sometimes I worry about—" He lifts his hands, gestures to the room.

Ben sighs. "Do you remember what Johnny said earlier about me worrying about being alone forever?"

"Okay?"

"It's not like I was lounging around all day moaning about it," Ben says. "But I wasn't in a good place back then, when Johnny was still living at the Vic. I didn't think—look, everybody hated me back then, I was a disaster, I didn't even know if I was  _ allowed _ to be happy. The one person who—who—he died." Ben shifts around. "How did you feel when you found out about Chris dying?"

Callum rolls over, but scoots back enough that Ben knows to put his arms around him. If this was a nicer conversation there would be jokes about Ben being a terrible big spoon, but it would feel weird to say something like that right now. "I—" Ben is a lot better about talking about Paul; he says that it is easier for him now, to think of Paul as someone who still exists, just far away. He says that Paul's nan, Pam, she told him to make more of an effort to talk about it, about  _ him _ . Callum doesn't really know how to do that with Chris. "It's not like we were together, though. It's not like—I couldn't even say the word back then."

"Doesn't make it less real, Cal."

"Sometimes I think about him when we're cooking," he says. "Just, like making a nice dinner."

"In a good way or a bad way?"

Callum smiles. He pulls Ben's hand up and kisses his wrist. "Good. He would have thought you were a menace, but he'd probably think you were good for me."

"I like to think so."

"I wasn't  _ too _ jealous? With Johnny?"

"Cal." Ben kisses his shoulder. "He thought it was hilarious. He never gets to be the home-wrecker."

Callum coughs. "Hah."

"He  _ did _ point out that I have a type, though."

"Oh, really?"

"Nice boys."

Callum closes his eyes. "I guess you do, don't you."

"I do like a soft lad, I admit it." Ben squeezes, pulls him closer. Their legs are a tangle. "In fact, I happen to  _ love _ a soft lad."

"Oh my god, shut up, cheeseball."

"Make me."


End file.
